Psychology

Program Overview

Psychologists take as foundational the idea that behavior and mental processes can only be understood by appreciating the complex ways in which they are shaped by biological, psychological, and socio-cultural forces. As a psychology major, you will gain exposure to these different perspectives by taking courses that range from the study of neuro-chemical activity in the brain, to developmental influences on thought and behavior, to memory, attention, and learning, to social influences and group memberships that give rise to conformity with norms, prejudice, and prosocial behavior.

You will also learn the scientific principles that underlie psychology’s accumulation of knowledge across these domains. You will learn to think and problem-solve like a psychological scientist, developing skills in scientific reasoning and research methodology that will help you to appreciate the importance and efficacy of taking an evidence-based approach to understanding and addressing social, cognitive and behavioral issues across the lifespan and across various applied settings.

Psychology is often referred to as a “hub” discipline (Cacioppo, 2007) because of its many interdisciplinary links with other fields such as the natural sciences, the social sciences, the humanities, education, and public policy. Scientific contributions from psychology often inform the work being done in these fields, and psychologists regularly incorporate insights generated in other disciplines into their own work. Psychology thus stands well placed to facilitate the kinds of interdisciplinary conversations necessary to provide answers to the most pressing social and behavior issues facing modern society. Additionally, psychology’s interdisciplinary nature prepares majors not just for advanced training in psychology, but also for advanced training in related fields such as law, education, business, social work, and public policy, as well as for entry-level positions in fields such as business, human resources, public relations, and community development.

About the Department

The Psychology Department at Fairfield University guides students in developing an understanding of the content and methods of psychological science as well as an appreciation for the many ways in which psychology can be applied to better understand and address a wide range of clinical and applied issues.

The Department places a particular emphasis on hands-on engagement with psychology. In addition to requiring all majors to complete at least one experiential learning course (Research Methods, PY 202), there are multiple opportunities for students to engage in psychological research, teaching internships, and community service.

How we stand out

A broad range of faculty expertise, from biological psychology, to learning and cognition, to developmental psychology, to community psychology, to personality, to clinical disorders and treatment, to the psychology of prejudice and well-being.

A wide range of applied internship opportunities.

A variety of undergraduate research opportunities where you work directly with faculty mentors.

Opportunities for advanced undergraduates to serve as teaching interns.

Well-equipped research facilities.

Strong record of placement of psychology majors in advanced graduate programs.

Small class sizes. It is rare for even introductory classes to have more than 25-30 students and upper-level classes often have no more than 15 students.

When a student takes more than one course in one of the five content areas above, that course counts as an elective.

Permission of instructor is required prior to taking PY 391-392 and PY 395. Students are allowed a maximum of two applied internships and one teaching internship. Students may take PY 295 only once and PY 395 only once.

In their senior year, psychology majors may be required to participate in a departmental assessment, such as an exit questionnaire, interview, focus group, or Major Field Test in Psychology.

B.A. With a Major in Psychology (applies to all students in the classes of 2018, 2019, and 2020)

The curriculum for a B.A. degree in psychology is:

Required Courses

Suggested Time

PY 101: General Psychology

Semester 1 or 2

PY 261: Behavioral Neuroscience

Semester 2 or 3

PY 211/212: Developmental Psychology for Majors with or without Lab

Semester 2 or 3

PY 201: Statistics for the Life Sciences

Semester 3 or 4

PY 202: Research Methods

Semester 4 or 5

One Senior Seminar

Semester 7 or 8

Students must also complete four elective courses, including at least one from each of the two groups listed below.

Group I

PY 221: Social Psychology

PY 231: Abnormal Psychology for Majors

PY 232: Theories of Personality

Group II

PY 251: Cognitive Psychology

PY 252: Learning and Applied Behavior Analysis

PY 262: Sensation and Perception

Permission of instructor is required prior to taking PY 391-392 and PY 395. Students are allowed a maximum of two applied internships and one teaching internship. Students may take PY 295 only once and PY 395 only once.

In their senior year, psychology majors may be required to participate in a departmental assessment, such as an exit questionnaire, interview, focus group, or Major Field Test in Psychology.

B.S. with a Major in Psychology (applies to all students in the classes of 2018, 2019, and 2020)

The psychology courses that constitute the curriculum for a B.S. degree in psychology are identical to those required for the B.A. degree. Additionally, the B.S. requires a year of math with at least one calculus course at or above the level of MA 119 and the following natural science courses.

Faculty

The College of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield University is home to a vibrant community of engaged faculty, dedicated staff and budding scholars devoted to the process of invention and discovery and excited by the prospect of producing knowledge in the service of others. Meet the innovative members of our Psychology Department.

Student-Faculty Research

A particular strength of the psychology department is the faculty, whose members are not only excellent teachers, but also productive researchers. Many students (freshmen through seniors) work with faculty members as research assistants and collaborators. Students may volunteer their time in a research lab, or they may work on faculty members’ research projects in the Supervised Research course (PY 295, 3 credits). As a result of these collaborations, students often co-author papers that are presented at professional research conferences, and many students give presentations at the annual the annual Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society research symposium on campus.

Internships

You can serve an internship for one or two semesters of credit in Applied Psychology. The wide range of opportunities includes:

Work with autistic children

Assisting probation officers and guidance counselors

Work in advertising and human resources

Assisting in psychiatric facilities

All allow students to spend ten hours a week using knowledge acquired in their classes. The Adrienne Kirby Family Literacy Project provides opportunities to be involved in preventive intervention that helps low-income preschoolers and their parents in language and reading. As a senior, you can undertake independent research; as a junior, you can apply, as many have done successfully, for summer research opportunities at other institutions, as well as supervised research and summer opportunities at Fairfield University.

Internship sites (a sampling):

CRN International (radio marketing)

People's Bank (human resources)

YWCA (domestic violence unit)

Superior Court (adult probation, family court, juvenile center)

Legal Services of Connecticut

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (children's unit)

Family and Children's Agency, Norwalk

New England Center for Children

Giant Steps

National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Fairfield Preparatory School (counseling)

The United Way (organizational)

Family Literacy Project

The Family Literacy Project is an early intervention program designed to increase the school readiness of low income urban Head Start preschool-age children through direct tutoring of the children and through parent education workshops. Students are trained to be literacy coaches and are assigned to work individually with preschoolers who have been identified as having delays in their language development. In addition to this supervised applied experience, several of our majors have used their work at Head Start to become involved in research.

Internship in Applied Psychology

Integrating both cognitive and experiential learning, the Psychology Department offers its senior psychology majors the opportunity to work as interns in varied settings. Student interns are offered a wide selection of placements from which to choose, including working with autistic children, assisting probation officers, working with guidance counselors, learning about advertising or human resources, working in psychiatric facilities, etc. Each student spends at least ten hours per week on-site under qualified supervision enabling her or him to use the skills and knowledge acquired as students of psychology.

Internship in Teaching Psychology

This practicum experience, open to advanced psychology majors, affords the student an opportunity to explore the profession of the teaching of psychology. Under the direct supervision of the professional staff of the Department, students are introduced to the issues of curriculum development, methods of classroom instruction, selection and use of media resources, test construction, and strategies for the academic and practical motivation of students. Interns have the opportunity to observe participating faculty engaged in the profession of teaching, to share in some of the instructional activities, and to meet with other interns in a seminar format to process the learning experiences.

Life After Fairfield

A survey of Fairfield alumni who majored in psychology indicates that most seek an advanced degree at institutions including Yale, New York University, UCLA, and Columbia. The largest number have sought that degree in psychology and allied fields but many have gone to medical, law, education and business schools. About half of those in business are employed in public relations, human resources, investments, advertising, and marketing.

As a student, you will have many choices but you can find help in making these, not only from faculty, but from a network of alumni mentors who can offer counsel based on their own experience. The Psychology Department has recently developed the Alumni Mentor Database to allow undergraduates to correspond with psychology alumni with similar professional interests. Each participating alumnus or alumna has submitted information concerning his or her advanced educational and employment experiences. Students may browse through all the records or search the database to locate the names and addresses of alumni with specific interests or experiences.

Here are some other useful resources to explore as you think about careers and graduate school in psychology:

Learn more about how Fairfield's Career Planning Center can support your post-graduate goals, and how Fairfield's tight-knit alumni network can build career and mentoring opportunities that last a lifetime.